Ohio GOP to repeal parts of its own passed legislation

This
week, Republicans are moving forward with a partial repeal of HB 194, a bill that was blasted
by voting rights groups for eliminating opportunities to vote early and disallowing pollworkers to guide voters to the correct precinct. The bill was
also criticized by Democrats for curtailing voting rights in a way that made it
harder for mostly Democratic constituents to vote.

The good news first: Most of HB 194
is being repealed. It’s good to see Republicans follow the advice of Ohio
Secretary of State Jon Husted, a moderate Republican who called or the repeal
of HB 194 earlier this year.

The bad news: Some new limits on
voting rights are going to remain in place, and the entire repeal process, which involves the passing of SB 295, might
be unconstitutional.

While it’s good to see HB 194
repealed, it’s not the only voting law Republicans enacted last year. The Ohio
legislature also passed HB 224, which prohibited voting the Saturday, Sunday
and Monday before election day.

For Democrats, this poses a bit of
a problem. Democrats are happy to see most of the restrictions on voting
repealed, but they want to see all of the restrictions repealed. If SB 295
passes, Democrats worry that the rest of the restrictions won’t be repealed
because Republicans will think they have done enough.

Even the Obama team spoke on this
issue. In an email to Obama supporters Tuesday, Greg Schultz, the Ohio State
Director on the Obama team, urged voters to speak up: “This bill could mean an
end to our last three days of early voting this November — and would change the
rules, right in the middle of an election year. It's an unambiguous attack on
our voting rights.”

The other problem is the repeal
could be unconstitutional. After HB 194 passed, voters were quick to speak out
against the new law and put it up for referendum in the November 2012 ballot.
So Republicans are repealing a law that is already up for referendum. This is
the first time that’s happened in the Ohio legislature, and Democrats claim it might be unconstitutional.

But a lot
of that opposition may be pure political posturing. After all, Democrats were
sure they were going to win the referendum on HB 194, and they were sure they
could use it to get more supporters out to vote. With SB 295, the referendum of
HB 194 could potentially be taken off the ballot, and state Democrats will lose
one issue to hammer Republicans with in an election year.

In a sense,
Democrats aren’t just upset about a “change of rules in the middle of an
election year,” as Schultz put it in his email. They’re upset about a change in
politics in the middle of an election year.

Regardless,
SB 295 does have some legitimate problems. It’s good to see most of the
draconian restrictions on voting repealed, but if Republicans really want to
admit their mistake, they’ll repeal the rest of the restrictions as well.

Thursday will mark the 64th anniversary since the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, obliterating most of the Japanese city and directly killing more than 80,000 people. Within a few months, another 50,000 would die from injuries or radiation poisoning.

A forum on health care reform featuring people who have been adversely affected by the current system that relies on private insurance will be held Thursday. Entitled “National Health Care Reform: The Time Is Now,” the forum will be held from 6:30-8 p.m. at St. Monica/St. George Parish Center, 328 W. McMillan St., Clifton Heights.

Among panelists who will speak at the forum are uninsured people, small business owners who can't afford premiums for their workers and physicians.

Because it can take years after exposure for symptoms to develop, many people who are infected with the virus that causes AIDS don't even realize it. More than one million people in the United States are estimated to be living with HIV, and approximately one in five people with HIV are unaware they're infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hundreds of local people interested in rebuilding the economy instead of complaining about it gathered today for two sessions organized by Gov. Ted Strickland and State Sen. Eric Kearney (D-Avondale) to explain Ohio’s portion of the federal stimulus package. Besides Strickland aides, representatives from the Ohio Department of Development, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Ohio Department of Administrative Services, Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio Benefit Bank were on hand to educate local small businesses and nonprofits about utilizing stimulus dollars.

Local and national leaders working to advance equal rights for LGBT people will gather tonight in Covington to unveil a national award in honor of the late Nancy Minson.

The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and the Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus is co-sponsoring “Light of One, Power of Many: A Night to Honor Nancy Minson.” The event will be held at The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center in Covington, and begins with a reception at 6 p.m.

The final ratification of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact came Oct. 3 when President Bush signed the joint resolution of Congress. The law is now on the books, even though some in Ohio who support Issue 3 – the constitutional amendment to guarantee property owners the right to reasonable use of their land (see my news article "No One Owns
Water") – claim passage is needed to enact the law.

“The compact provides a comprehensive management framework for achieving sustainable water use and resource protection,” according to a pres release from the Council of Great Lakes Governors. “The eight Great Lakes states reached a similar good faith, agreement with Ontario and Québec in 2005, which the provinces are using to amend their existing water programs for
greater regional consistency.”

The compact includes the following points:

Economic development will be fostered through
sustainable use and responsible management of basin waters.

In
general, there will be a ban on new diversions of water from the basin but
limited exceptions could be allowed in communities near the basin when
rigorous standards are met.

Communities that apply for an exception will have a
clear, predictable decision making process, standards to be met and,
opportunities to appeal decisions. These processes and standards do not
exist under current law.

The
states will use a consistent standard to review proposed uses of basin
water. The states will have flexibility regarding their water management
programs and how to apply this standard.

Regional
goals and objectives for water conservation and efficiency will be
developed, and they will be reviewed every five years. Each state will
develop and implement a water conservation and efficiency program that may
be voluntary or mandatory.

There is a strong commitment to continued public
involvement in the implementation of the compact.

A coalition of progressive groups will hold a national convention later this month in Madison, Wis., the site of a hard-fought political battle to protect collective bargaining rights for public-sector labor unions.

Democracy Convention 2011 is scheduled for Aug. 24-28, and is envisioned as the inaugural session of what will become an annual event. It will feature several conferences on topics like community organizing, curtailing corporate influence in politics, economic democracy, independent media and constitutional reform.

Cincinnati Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls will lead a contingent of elected officials and community leaders on a road trip to Columbus on Monday to look at some apartment complexes built for homeless people there.

The group will tour two complexes built by National Church Residences (NCR) that provide permanent, supportive housing to formerly homeless individuals.

Immigration reform supporters will hold a rally Wednesday afternoon, on the eve of Tax Day, to publicize recent research that indicates allowing current undocumented immigrants — or “illegal aliens” — to become legal, tax-paying citizens would produce billions of dollars in new tax revenues.